When You're A Jet, You're Family
by SammyisQueeraf
Summary: (Being rewritten as of 12/21, Also being regularly updated again) He was proud of her. He did regret not being there for her for the five years he'd been with the Jets but she seemed to forgive him. He had only ran away because he was terrified of their father and he was sick of being beaten all the time. He hadn't even thought of Angie at the time.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A young girl by the name of Angela walked down the streets of Manhattan, trying to keep from being noticed. She'd just slipped out of her home, finally escaping from her drunkard father. He was out at some bar somewhere and her mother had been asleep. Her older brother, James, had ran away a few years earlier when she'd been just a child, so she had nobody left to make her stay with her family any longer. She'd finally decided to run away before her father had gone out. She'd packed a backpack of clothing and her notebook as soon as he'd left.

He'd screamed at her for knocking over his beer and spilling it everywhere. The screaming wasn't a new part of her household not were the punches that had come along with it. The most recent beating had left her with a black eye and some bruised ribs but she'd be all right. She'd never be back in that house again and she could allow her body to heal.

Angie bumped into an older boy and nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't even noticed him as she'd been walking.

"Easy there," He said, taking a step back from her. He noticed the black eye but didn't comment on it, knowing it was none of his business. "I'm Riff, what's your name?" He asked, sticking out his hand.

Angie eyed him warily before grabbing his hand. "Angie. Angie Johnson." She said, smiling as he did. He didn't seem like a bad person and she let her guard down, no longer on flight or fight mode.

"Nice to meet ya." Riff smiled, putting his hands in his pockets. "You going somewhere?" He asked, noticing the bag slung across her shoulder.

Angie shrugged. She didn't have a clue where she was headed yet, just that it was anywhere away from her home. "I could be. You got anywhere for me to go?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. He was older and stronger than she was, sticking with him could be a good idea. Maybe she could stay with him.

Riff seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, yeah, I actually do. It's not where I live but it's as good as anything I guess." He said before turning down an alleyway, motioning for her to follow him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

The alleyway turned onto another street and Angie got the feeling that their walk would be a long one, especially since they kept twisting and turning throughout the city. After switching streets two or three times, Angie couldn't even tell where they were anymore.

"Where are we?" She asked, breaking the tense silence they'd been walking in.

"The hideout. Where are you coming from?" Riff asked in return, feeling the need to get some background information before taking her to the Jets. That's why they were taking the long way around the city instead of just going directly to the hideout.

"The quarter of Fifth and Main, where my parents live." She answered. "My brother used to live there too but he ran away a few years ago." She didn't have to say that, but she felt like if she had to bring up her family, she might as well include all of her family members. She'd liked him the best out the three of them anyway.

"Where'd he go?" Riff asked, intrigued by the mention of a brother. A lot of the Jets had been runaways too, so maybe he'd joined them over the years.

"I don't know, I don't think he really knew either when he left." Angie sighed. She really missed him but understood his reasons for leaving. She may have only been nine or ten, but it wasn't like she hadn't noticed how her father acted and the bruises that started appearing on her brother's face. She had figured that he'd become sick of how he was treated by their father an had run away, a lot like she just had.

Riff nodded. "What was his name?" He asked. All of the Jets went by nicknames now an he couldn't remember all of their real names too good, but it was worth a shot, right?

"James." She replied, her eyes narrowing a bit in suspicion. She didn't know why Riff kept asking questions about her brother and it was starting to unnerve her slightly. "Why?"

'James Johnson, James Johnson, James Johnson...' Riff repeated the name like a mantra in his mind, trying to conjure up all of the boy's real names. Maybe he could reunite them if James was one of the Jets. It took him a few moments before it clicked that he definitely did have James Johnson in his gang and he immediately grinned.

"I think I know where he is!" He exclaimed excitedly. He took her hand and ran through the streets, no longer worrying about taking the long route to the hideout. They'd mostly just been circling around Jet territory for twenty minutes anyway, but now he headed straight for their building.

Angie didn't have time to ask any questions before she was standing behind an old brick building. Riff whistled and ten or so boys stuck their heads around the corner. None of them looked familiar to her, but she smiled their way to be polite. Slowly they came out to stand in front of her and Riff and she tensed slightly, intimidated by the large group. She knew they wouldn't do anything with Riff right there, which relaxed her.

"Boys, this is Angie." Riff started the introductions when his gang just stood and gawked at them like they'd never seen a girl before. He knew they were staring at her black eye but they were wise enough to not say anything. He didn't think she noticed where their gazes were directed. Riff took her down the line of boys and introduced them, one by one. They all smiled and greeted her.

When the introductions were over, Riff explained to them that Angie was going to be staying with them from then on. Nobody said anything against it and he smiled, he was glad they didn't disagree with his decision. They usually didn't on much. He was a pretty agreeable person, which was part of why he was the leader. As he looked at his boys, he noticed that one of them was missing.

"Where's A-Rab?" He asked.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"He's at mine," Ice said. "I left him sleeping." A-Rab deserved to sleep. He'd taken over as leader for the past month while Riff recovered from his injuries from the last rumble. Riff had insisted that he was perfectly fine, but nobody in the group had believed him. A-Rab had been going out and patrolling late into the night because he was hellbent on the idea that the Sharks were going to try to attack them. Ice honestly doubted he had slept more than two hours each night, if he even slept that long. He was exhausted, so they just let him sleep.

"Why didn't you just wake him up?" Angie asked, ignoring the incredulous looks the boys around her shot her way.

"Listen Ang, A-Rab's had a hard couple of weeks. We just let him sleep when he can,okay?" Riff asked. Angie didn't know that A-Rab hadn't really slept for ages. She'd just met them, it wasn't her fault that she didn't know.

Angie sighed but didn't push the issue further. She knew what it was like to go without very much sleep for very long. Five years with her father had taught her that much at least. She'd always either get woken up in the middle of the night by her father when he came back from the bar or she'd be up all night listening to him scream at her.

"Why's he live with you?" She asked. Nobody had said anything for a solid five minutes and the silence was suffocating.

"He doesn't really live with me, he kind of just stays with whoever he ends up with at the end of the day." Ice shrugged. It was true of about half of them really. Ice had his own apartment, Riff stayed at Tony's, Baby John lived with his parents, and Action had an apartment with Diesel but the others didn't have anywhere to call home. A-Rab usually went home with Baby John but he and Ice had been caught up in a conversation when everyone left so he'd just left with him. That was one of the benefits of being in the Jets, Riff thought. Even if you had nothing, you still had them to rely on.

Angie thought that was kind of strange but instead of voicing it, she only nodded. Ice had said it so casually that it must've been a normal thing.

Riff walked into the hideout and the others followed him, including Angie. The inside wasn't very spectacular. It had gray walls and a cement floor. There were two couches-that had definitely seen better days- pushed up against opposite walls and there were some ancient looking chairs scattered across the rest of the walls. There was a lot of floor space, which struck Angie as kind of odd. She didn't understand why you would have all of the furniture pushed up against the walls and not have anything in the middle.

The boys scattered and sprea out on the furniture. Each of them seemed to have designated spots, as everyone went directly to their place and nobody tried to fight them over it.

On one of the couches, there were a few comics that were falling apart and the youngest boy, Baby John if Angie remembered right, sat on it and started reading a Batman comic. The seat beside him was empty and she guessed that was where the mythical A-Rab usually sat. She looked around the room and found Riff with boys on either side of him. Every other seat was full. She didn't want to just stand there out of place so she went and sat beside Baby John. He glanced at her and smiled before going back to his comic and she took that as a good sign. She'd made a good decision.

Twenty minutes went by and all Angie did was watch the boys interact. She found out they were very loud and overconfident, always boasting about how great they were and how they could best anybody at anything, whether it be basketball or fighting. As she watched, she searched all of their faces, trying to see if she recognized any of them as her brother but to no avail. Riff had told her James was here, but he apparently wasn't. She sighed.

"Hey Ang," Baby John looked up from his comic, apparently noticing she hadn't done a thing the whole time she'd been there. "D'ya like Spider-Man?" He held up another of his comics. This one was a bit torn up on the front but still readable.

Angie nodded, taking the book from him. "Thanks." She smiled. Baby John returned the smile and went back to reading his own comic.

They spent the next couple of hours like that, occasionally switching comics. The boys carried on around them in their own conversations.

When Angie was almost to the end of the last comic, Riff stood up and announced they were going out to patrol. He assigned everyone somewhere to go; the park, the playground, around the high school, Doc's, and around the block. Angie noticed that he assigned everyone in pairs, nobody was left on their own.

"Now Ang," He said, turning towards her. "Ice and I will be patrolling around here. If there's trouble or anything happens, just shout and we'll come runnin', alright?"

"What do you want me to shout?" She asked. She hoped he didn't expect her to shout 'help' like some dame in distress if something happened. That had never worked for her before and she knew it wouldn't now.

"We usually just shout Jets if we get in a bind," Baby John answered. There were affirmations all throughout the group.

"We won't be gone longer than an hour or two." Ice called over his shoulder on his way out the door. All of the boys found their patrol partners and head out as well, leaving only Riff andAngie behind.

"If anything happens, don't hesitate to call us, okay?" He asked. "We'll always come."

"I will," Angie smiled. "You worry too much. All I'm gonna do while you're gone is read some more of Baby John's comics." That's pretty much all there was to do in the first place.

Riff seemed satisfied with her answer and finally left. Angie sat back down, this time on Baby John's side of the couch and picked her comic back up.

Not even fifteen minutes passed before the door kicked open and different boys walked in. They were older than the Jets by at least four years and there were more of them. She'd counted twelve of the Jets and there were easily twenty of these guys.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Angie tried her damnedest to shrink into herself in the hopes that the boys wouldn't notice her but she abandoned that plan when one of them walked up to the couch, a hand gesture telling the others to stay back. He stopped a few feet in front of her and watched her with his head cocked slightly to the side, confusion clear in his face. She returned his gaze warily and waited for him to say or do something but he only stood there, looking at her. It was unnerving. She was about to open her mouth to speak when he beat her to it.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked, soft and calm like he was trying not to frighten off a small animal.

She didn't really know how to answer or if she should answer at all. She was here because that's where Riff had led here after she ran away. She was here because he had said her brother was her, who she had yet to see by the way. She could tell him those things or she could tell him that she was just waiting for the Jets to come back. If she was feeling courageous she could've told him it was none of his business, but she was mostly just intimidated by him and what she was guessing was his gang. She got the feeling that they weren't supposed to be here and she should rightly be afraid of them.

She decided not to answer at all.

"What's your name?" The boy tried again after a stretch of silence.

This she could answer.

"My name is Angie." She said, voice sounding like a gunshot in the silent room. It seemed to echo off of the concrete and taunt her with its loudness. She waited for someone to do something about it, to yell at her for making such a racket, but she was apparently the only one to notice its volume.

"That's a pretty name." The boy smiled, nodding a little. This was good, he thought. She's talking to me. "My name's Bernardo and these," He gestured to the boys behind him, "are the Sharks."

Great, she thought. Another gang.

"Nice to meet you." She returned his smile hesitantly, unsure of his politeness. This seemed like it would end badly and him being nice was only increasing her bad feeling. There was a gang of men behind Bernardo and she was greatly outnumbered if this went south. She was already smaller and weaker. Her odds of fighting any of them weren't very good.

"Will you tell me why you're here?" He asked again, hoping he'd get an answer this time. He thought there was something wrong about her being here. Maybe the Jets had kidnapped her? Or maybe they jumped her. He didn't like the black eye she was sporting and he could see more bruises leading under the neckline of her hoodie. The fear shining in her eyes didn't help quell his suspicions any.

"Will you tell me why you're here?" She echoed back to him instead of answering. It was becoming clear that she wasn't in immediate danger and she felt her anxiety go down. It wasn't fair, she rationalized. She had the right to be here. They were just some guys barging into what clearly wasn't theirs. Why should she have to explain if they didn't?

The response mildly surprised Bernardo but he didn't miss a beat with his answer.

"We're here to speak with the Jets. Do you know where we could find them?" He asked, glancing back at the Sharks as he did. He could practically feel the glare Chino was sending his way but he didn't care at the moment. He knew the lieutenant thought he was wasting time talking to Angie. Lately he'd been in a shoot first, ask questions later kind of mindset.

"They're out,"Angie said, thinking. "Riff said something about patrol." That's right. Riff and Ice were around somewhere close! She could always just yell for them if something happened. She felt ten times better and even began to relax a little bit with the realization. She was safe, even if things did go wrong. She had people to look out for her now. She was safe.

Bernardo considered her words and nodded. Patrol meant there were Jets all over their part of the city looking for all of them. Every Shark was right here in their hang out spot. He wondered if any of them would think something was going on with the lack of Sharks out. He turned around and walked back to his gang. She watched the boys draw in around him as they began to speak words she couldn't hear.

"Should we go find them or wait for them to come back?" Pepe asked.

"I say we should wait and attack as soon as they walk in." Chino said, gleeful at the idea. Bernardo furrowed his eyebrows at his words and stepped closer to him.

"You remember that we're not here to fight them, yes?" He asked, wanting to make sure. He knew Chino was always ready for a fight these days but he'd told them all their intent this time was peaceful.

"We should fight them anyways. Pay them back for all the times they jumped us for no reason!"

"Yes, and continue on until we end up at another rumble? So one of us can almost lose our lives again? We are here to end the feud, not fuel it."

"They're not gonna listen to us about peace! They know nothing of peace!"

"They will if we don't try to fight them over it, Chino. But I think our mission may have to wait for now," Bernardo glanced over his shoulder at Angie, who sat watching them. She'd moved out of the corner of the couch and was sitting on the edge of it, like she was ready to hop up at any second, ready to run at any sign of danger. "We have something else to deal with now."

"Who cares about her!" Chino said, almost loud enough for Angie to hear. "What do we have to do that pertains to her? Since when did we become babysitters?"

"Keep your voice down!" Bernardo hissed. "I think the Jets are keeping her here. She's got bruises and I think she got them from the Jets. We've gotta help her, Chino." The Sharks nodded, murmuring agreements all around him.

Chino scoffed. "And what? Take her back with us?" At the leader's nod, he continued. "What happens if it turns out she's one of them? They'll come after her and then we'd have hell to pay for snatching her up!"

"You could be wrong."

"Or I could be right and you could risk our safety for the sake of this one random stranger we found. Would you rather it be her or us, Bernardo? Her or Maria? Her or Anita?" Chino asked, making it harder for Bernardo to do the right thing. He had a good point.

If he brought the girl back home with them and it turned out she hadn't needed saving from the Jets, he'd have a dozen angry Americans at his front door. A dozen angry Americans that already hated them and had tried to kill him once before. Was he really going to risk his life or the people he cared about for one kid that might not even need his help in the first place?

"You're right." He sighed. The safety of his family came before any stranger, end of story.

"Glad you see it my way." Chino grinned.

"Maybe we should just leave and forget we ever saw her." Indio suggested.

"But she won't forget she saw us. What are we gonna do about that?" Pepe piped up, worry in his tone. Either way, it seemed, they were screwed. If they took her or if they left her, the Jets were going to come after them.

Before Bernardo could come up with a good answer for his men, Chino spoke again.

"Let's just kill her." His tone suggested it was the most obvious option in the world. The gasps that sounded throughout the group begged to differ.

Bernardo's blood ran cold. How could Chino even think about that? The man had shot one of the Jets a month beforehand, so maybe murder was his go to for when things weren't going the way they were supposed to? He didn't know, all he knew was that it was crazy.

"We don't even know this poor girl!" He protested.

"But she's going to be our downfall. She'll tell them we were here and she'll probably go crying to them with some bullshit story."

"Why? Why, Chino, would she do that?"

"Look at her," he jerked his head in Angie's direction and Bernardo followed his gaze. "She's scared out of her mind. She'll probably tell them that we came in here and threatened her or some shit like that and then they'll come after us. We've gotta kill her to keep her quiet."

"You're insane!" Bernardo didn't even try to keep his voice down. "You're crazy!"

Around him, the boys were talking lowly amongst themselves. They were on Chino's side. It made sense to them. They didn't want the Jets to come looking for their asses just because of one stupid girl. They'd sooner kill her than let anything happen to themselves. Bernardo looked around at his gang in disbelief. How had they come to this? When had murder ever been their way to solve things?

"All of you are out of your minds." He whispered.

Chino ignored him and turned around, heading towards Angie.

Bernardo was held back before he could run after him. Chino had his arms around Angie before she could move away. He tried to get away from the hands holding him but it was in vain, he wasn't as strong as four men. He could only watch in horror as Chino pulled out his switchblade.

Angie was too terrified to even try to get away from his grasp. She knew something bad was gonna happen but had she listened to her gut and called for help right away? No, of course she hadn't and now look where she was! She was gonna die and there was nothing she could do about it.

Wait. Call for help. Riff would hear her if she called for help! She struggled to get her vocal cords to work again and screamed as loud as she could.

"Jets! Jets!"


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

"Well, loosen your grip a little!" "But, If we do that she'll run!" Pepe shouted. Surprisingly enough, none of this yelling woke up A-Rab. Angie kicked a tin can and aimed it at A-Rab's back. Maybe if she could just wake him up, Bernardo and his goons would leave. Clearly she couldn't get away from them on her own. They were too string for her. She was only fourteen and these guys must be at least eighteen or nineteen. The can hit the mattress a few inches away from his back.

'Damn it!' Angie thought angrily. 'So buggin close!' "Let's just kill her. It'll be less work for all of us. Even the Jets'll have less trouble." Chino said while shrugging his shoulders. "She's one of them" agrees Pepe. Chino pulled out a switchblade. The light reflecting off it made it look even more frightening to Angie. They were going to kill her! Chino held it up to her throat. Bernardo turned away. He actually liked the girl a little. He didn't want to see her killed but Chino did have a point.

Angie couldn't let these Spics kill her. She remembered Ice's advice and decided quickly to follow it. She sucked in a huge gulp of breath and shouted "Jets! Jets!" as loud as she possibly could. A second later Riff and Ice came running through the door. Riff quickly assessed the situation and kicked the blade out of Chino's hand. Ice punched Chino hard enough to knock him out. Since Chino was out , his grip on Angie loosened and his body fell to the ground. Ice punched Pepe in the face so hard, Angie actually thought she heard his nose snap in two.

Bernardo grabbed up the knife and lunged at Riff. Riff dodged the blade and pulled out a switchblade of his own. Bernardo glared at him and swung his blade at Riff, aiming for his heart. Riff blocked it with his knife and Angie heard the clinging of metal. She wasn't watching juts incase Riff got stabbed. Angered by the way he had missed, Bernardo took a few steps back and quickly lurched forward for one final shot at Riff.

Riff barely had time to leap out of the way. When he did however, Bernardo's knife met Angie's shoulder. Angie screamed out in pain. She could never have a break, could she? First, her father now this happens. Just her luck she assumed. "Ice get her outta here!" Riff demanded. Ice nodded and grabbed Angie's right hand- her left one had a tight hold on the knife handle in her shoulder- and led her out of the back as the other Jets came in.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter6_

"Somebody wake up A-Rab!" Action yelled as Sharks started pooling in from all directions. Riff was on the ground wrestling with Bernardo. Bernardo had tooken Riff's switchblade and Riff had to get it back. He didn't want to take any chances that this could turn out like the Rumble they had last month. His gut still hurt from getting stabbed. Riff and Bernardo rolled so that Riff was on top of the Shark. Riff grabbed his own knife and flung it at the wall and then repeated this process with Bernardo's switchblade. Bernardo glared at him and growled. Riff lay on the cement floor after Bernardo flung him off. Bernardo whistled and the Sharks instantly stopped fighting with the Jets. They followed Bernardo out the door-sending angry looks at the Jets as they went- and into the alley.

Ice and Angie were in the back of that same alley and Ice stood over Angie protectively when he saw the Prs come out. He was trying to get the bleeding to stop. He remembered all to well how long they had to work to stop the bleeding last month when Riff had gotten stabbed at the Rumble. Angie's hand fell away from her shoulder limply. 'Damn it' Ice thought. He looked at Angie's face. She was paler than a ghost and she could barely keep her eyes open. "Come on Ang. Ya gotta stay awake for me." Ice said pleadingly. He sounded so distant to Angie. Even though Angie knew he was right beside her, he sounded as if he was a thousand miles away. Angie felt consciousness leave her and she was submerged in the calming darkness that always claimed her after her father's beatings.

Ice looked around in the first-aid kit -that Anybodys had hidden in the alley for things like this- for some more cloth. They didn't have any. "Riff! We need some more cloth out here!" He shouted just loud enough for the Jets to hear him. Diesel came out with some ripped up shirts that he had in his pockets and gave them to Ice. Ice put them around the knife -that was still sticking out of Angie's shoulder- and applied pressure. He didn't want to remove the switchblade because he had tried and it was lodged in there pretty deep.

If he pulled it out it might damage a muscle or something. "I aint no doctor but I think your supposed to pull the knife out before you do that." Diesel said eyeing the knife. "I know that Sherlock." Ice snapped. "Bernardo was tryin' at kill Riff with it so it was driven into Angie's shoulder with every intent to kill Riff. So it's stuck in there and I'm afraid if I pull it out I'll damage her muscles or something' important like that." Ice told him, applying more pressure to Angie's shoulder with each word.

Diesel thought about this for a minute. His face took on a look of concentration while he looked at Angie's shoulder. He gave the knife an experimental pull. "I'm surprised it didn't go straight through her shoulder. That sucker's stuck in there. Deep." he said. "But, I bet A-Rab could pull it out. Remember, Bernardo's knife was stuck like that in Riff's stomach and A-Rab got it out." Diesel said matter-o'-factly. Ice looked at the blade to Angie's face and back again. He sighed. Diesel did have a piont there. "Go get 'im then. Wouldja?" He asked. Diesel nodded and ran inside to get the blonde Jet.

A-Rab came out and looked at the blade. Then at Angie. He stopped short in a stunned silence. Ice looked at him like he had two heads. "What's wrong with ya? Get over here!" He demanded. This was a first for A-Rab. He never stopped at nothing. When A-Rab didn't move, Ice's voice got angrier. "What are ya starin' at?" Ice yelled. "That's…my…sister…" A-Rab said slowly, almost like he couldn't believe it.


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 7_

Ice was a bit shocked at this. But, his shock was instantly gone when Angie's blood slid down his arm. "Pull the switchblade out of your _sister's_ arm then" Ice said quickly. "Right" A-Rab said after snapping out of his initial shock. A-Rab ran over to his sister. He put both hands on the handle of the switchblade and gave it a few good pulls. It came out with a sickening slipping sound. Instantaneously blood started gushing out of the hole in Angie's shoulder in a unsteady waterfall.

A-Rab's eyes became the size of plates and he took off his belt and tied it around her under arm. He thought he remembered Tony saying that your supposed to cut off the circulation so no more blood could flow the last time they had to do this with Riff. Ice took off his t-shirt and tied it on Angie's shoulder. Soon, the bleeding subsided and then stopped completely a few minutes later. Ice and A-Rab let out breath they didn't know they'd been holding. Riff came out with a huge strip of medical cloth. After discarding Ice's shirt, he wrapped it around Angie's shoulder

"Okay, Now take her inside and keep an eye on her. A-Rab, you're out of having to walk the turf and doing the usual until Angie's better. Got it?" Ice asked as if he was the leader. Riff glared at Ice and A-Rab nodded. A-Rab picked up his sister and took her inside. He layed her on the makeshift bed he had been previously occupying , and layed down next to her -putting a protective arm around her in the process- and settled into a light sleep. He was exhausted after all that had happened so quickly in a short period of time.

Back outside, Rif had called a gang meeting. Everyone-minus A-Rab- was gathered in a circle around Riff. Anybodys was perched on the fire escape listening in for anything she could get. She wanted badly to be in the Jets and thought that by listening to their plans and showing up wherever they go, she would be accepted as one of them.

"Now listen to me as I am only telling youse guys once. A-Rab is not going to be going about the usual until Ang's shoulder is healed because Ice said she's A-Rab's sister and it's A-Rab's job as a big brother to protect her and take care of her. Don't ask no questions about it or I'll send ya to patrol PR territory." Riff said firmly.

"That means we need a temporary replacement. 'Cause being a man short in a gang can -and will- get us killed." he paused turning to the fire escape. "That means we need ya Anybodys." he sighed. The rest of the Jets gave him bewildered looks. 'He can't be serious' Action thought a scowl covering his features. Anybodys was overjoyed at this news. She finally had her wish of being a Jet!


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 7_

Angie woke up the next morning with A-Rab's arm still wrapped around her. Her shoulder really hurt. But, why exactly? The events of the night before flashed through her mind. 'Right, I got stabbed by that jerk' She thought with a grimace. Angie noticed the arm that was around her and looked at the person that went with it. "James?" She gasped. Angie shook the arm off of her and got up -hurting her shoulder in the process- and stood in front of her brother. She crouched down in front of him and poked him in the chest multiple times. A-Rab groaned and opened his eyes.

"Morning, Ang" He smiled sleepily. "James! How come you never came back?" Angie yelled at him. "Because, I found the Jets. Plus, Dad was being a jerk." A-Rab explained. "Guessin' you found that out for yourself?" He asked, looking at her eye. Angie nodded. "You should've taken me with you! I have tons more bruises like this everywhere!" Angie cried. A-Rab sighed. "You're right. I should've. Or atleast I should've stayed. I was supposed to protect you. I'm a bad big brother, aint I?" He closed his eyes regretfully. He shouldn't of left her alone, but she was only 9 when he left. Too young and innocent to be in a gang like the Jets.

Angie stared at her brother, anger disappearing. "No. You aint a bad big brother. You just wasn't there when I needed you." She said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Ang. But, I aint going anywhere this time. I promise" A-Rab whispered. Angie smiled. A-Rab got up and hugged his little sister -being careful of her shoulder- and kissed the top of her head. Angie hugged back. Things would be back to the way they used to be. Well, aside from being with the Jets…. "Go back to sleep and I'll find us some breakfast. Okay?" A-Rab asked after pulling away from his sister.

Angie nodded. "Okay James." She smiled ad climbed back onto the makeshift bed on the floor. The 14 year old turned on her side -the good one- and closed her eyes. A-Rab looked at his baby sister and walked out of the hideout. Once he was out of hearing range of Angie, he whistled. Baby John appeared over the side of a building.

"You whistled A-Rab?" He asked. "Yeah. I need you to go to the hideout and stay there with Angie til I get back. I'm going to find some food. Got it?" A-Rab asked while looking at the younger Jet.

Baby John nodded and climbed down. "Sure A-Rab." A-Rab walked off down the street and Baby John headed to the hideout.


	9. Chapter 9

When Baby John got there, he found Angie throwing a rubber bouncy ball at one of the walls.

"I'm dying of boredom." Angie declared dramatically, noticing the boy's presence.

"There isn't much to do… You could draw or we could play cards if you want." He suggested. Angie thought about it as she caught the ball in her hand.

"I think I'll draw and you can watch." She decided.

"Okay," Baby John agreed and grabbed a notebook and a pencil from the ground. "Here." He handed them both to Angie, who shoved the ball into her pocket before taking them, and sat down on a overturned crate.

Angie took a seat beside him on a similar crate and flipped to a clean page in the notebook. "So, what should I draw?" She asked, looking at the other Jet expectantly.

"I don't know. What kind of things do you like?" Baby John asked in turn.

Angie thought for a moment. "Well, I like animals and music." She said.

"Draw a dog or something playing an instrument!" Baby John suggested. It sounded cool to Angie.

"Okay. I'll do that."

Baby John watched Angie's hands as she started the drawing. Each line was carefully drawn out so the picture would be perfect.

Baby John watched intently, fascinated that she could focus on something like drawing. He could never do that, he's tried before but his attention span isn't really that long. Angie was just finishing up the dog she was working on when James came back. Neither Angie or Baby John noticed.

James seen that his sister was lost in her drawing and knew that he shouldn't interrupt her. He set the food down on a small wooden table and sat down beside Angie. He watched over her shoulder as she drew and was amazed at how good she had gotten drawing.

When the two were younger, Angie would always draw things and give them to James. Usually smiling stick figures of their whole family with rainbows and smiling suns in the background. He could never have dream dreamed she would be this good. She would be a great artist someday.

Angie finished her picture and handed it to Baby John, smiling proudly. "What do you think?" She asked. Baby John was speechless at the sight of the amazing drawing. Angie had drawn a Labrador wearing sunglasses and strumming a acoustic guitar. James snatched the picture from Baby John so he could get a closer look at it.

"It's really good, Angie. You're really talented." He told his baby sister.

"Thanks, Jimmy." Angie smiled. It meant a lot to her that she had a talent and even more that her brother had recognized it. Her father always tore up her drawings or burned them. He always told her how awful they were and how stupid she was for thinking other wise.


	10. Chapter 10

A-rab took the drawing and taped it to the wall before they ate their breakfast. He was proud of her. He did regret not being there for her for the five years he'd been with the Jets but she seemed to forgive him. He had only ran away because he was terrified of their father and he was sick of being beaten all the time. He hadn't even thought of Angie at the time. Their father had never laid a hand on her. A-rab thought that meant she would be safe even if he wasn't there. He knew now that he had been wrong but there was no way to change it. The past was the past.

Angie took him out of his guilty thoughts by telling him of the things she had been doing in his absence. She'd taken two years of a Spanish class when her school had started offering it. She had changed her friend group around, as he discovered when he no longer recognized the names she kept mentioning, and her new best friend's name was Eliza. Their mother allowed her to stay at Eliza's house sometimes when she thought her husband wasn't coming back from the bar, she told him, and that was always exciting. A-rab listened intently as she talked about everything you'd expect a teenage girl to talk about. She spoke of make up and her interest in art class, her friends and all they did together, school and just about everything else. A-rab had been so focused on her that he didn't even notice when the guys came back some hours later. The whole time Angie and A-rab had been catching up, Baby John had been guarding the door. He made sure the Jets stayed quiet and soon they all had been listening to Angie talk about her own life.

Riff thought she was pretty popular, as she seemed to have many friends. Real friends, that is. Not gang friends that you're only friends with to make sure you've got someone to cover your ass. He loved his gang, he really did, but he wished they hadn't had to be together as warriors instead of regular buddies. They weren't exactly out having gang wars everyday but the threat was always there. They could be ambushed and any one of them could be killed at anytime. He wished these guys were just friends from school like Angie had but they weren't and he knew that. Part of being in a gang was not having a normal apple-pie lifestyle.

He tuned out Angie's rambling as he mused over their lives together. They'd all had pretty shitty lives to start with, which was partly why they were in a gang in the first place. None of them had had good home lives. Some of them had been abused like A-rab, others had been neglected or their parents had either left them or had been killed.

Riff's father had been a drunken bastard and had gotten his mother killed in a car crash. He kicked him out soon after and he'd gone to live with Tony, thus beginning the Jets. They'd picked up everyone else on the way. Baby John had been hiding in an alleyway when they took him in. He'd been running from some other gang and had been roughed up pretty badly but he was alright. They'd found Diesel and Action fighting off some guys together and kind of got them as a packaged deal. Over the years, they'd find the others while out on patrol or food runs. They'd all had stories to tell and in time, everyone in their little family had told of their origins and they'd all listened and sworn never to repeat it to anyone. Most of their home lives weren't exactly the best things and it was pretty easy to find their families of you were looking hard enough. They didn't want their information to get out and be dragged back to their previous shitty lives.

Riff was pulled from his musings when he noticed that Angie had stopped talking. She was looking around at them all with a slightly pink tinge to her cheeks and smiled sheepishly. She hadn't known they were all there. A-rab glared around at the group, daring someone to say something about Angie's rambling. He seemed satisfied when nobody said anything. He turned his attention back to his sister and ignored the Jets, who all took the hint to go off and do their own things.

"That's amazing, Ang. Everything sounds pretty good for you," he smiled. "You wanna keep goin to school? You can, you know."

Angie's eyes grew curious at this. "I can?" She asked stupidly. She'd thought that she had to just up and leave her whole life behind now that she'd ran away and found her brother.

A-rab nodded. "Of course, Ang! Just because you're a Jet now doesn't mean you have to quit school."

He waited until Angie had nodded thoughtfully before continuing, "You're only fourteen anyways. You can't drop out until you're at least sixteen, okay?" He asked with a wink.

Riff came over with a mischievous glint in his eye and clapped his hand on A-rab's shoulder. "Do I hear you corrupting the youth of America over here?" He asked.

"Only doing my civil duty!" He laughed. Riff shook his head with a look of mock disapproval before walking away muttering about 'no good juvenile delinquents'.

Angie smiled at their antics and leaned against her brother's side. She was starting to like it here. The atmosphere was lighter than it had been in her house for quite a long time. She had James here and he was happy. She was thrilled to be apart of this group.


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of their day passed uneventfully, especially since Angie wasn't allowed to do anything. A-rab didn't want her being up and about, afraid of her messing up her shoulder even more. Sometime as it was growing darker outside and Angie started complaining about her shoulder throbbing, he realized that they hadn't even thought about painkillers. They could easily go down to Doc's and get a bottle of aspirin, so why hadn't they thought of it? He figured it must have been due to all the chaos yesterday. He called Riff over and informed him of their need to go out.

"You're not going anywhere," Riff said authoritatively. "You've gotta take care of her and make sure the Sharks don't come back for round two."

"I think it's better if we all just go to Doc's. There's twelve of us that way to protect her and nobody would be caught alone in an ambush." A-rab said, trying to convince the leader. He was right and he knew it, but Riff was about as stubborn as he could be and he doubted he'd convince him easily.

"If we're in a group and the Sharks ambush us, there's at least one of them to occupy every one of ours and then some to get at Angie. What happens then, A-rab?" Riff retaliated. Bernardo had more people in his gang than the Jets had and it would be no problem to start a rumble and kidnap Angie before any of them knew what happened. He didn't want to see that happen. Not so soon after she'd been hurt. He knew that her bruises hadn't just healed overnight and that stab wound hadn't either. He didn't want to further her pain by fucking something up.

"Doc's is only a few blocks over. We'll be there in less than twenty minutes and we'll keep Angie in the middle of us. She'll be gaurded on all sides and even safer when we get to Doc's. It'll be fine, Riff." A-rab explained, hoping he'd see reason. This was safer. He feared leaving Angie alone for even a second but he wasn't going to just not do everything he could to help her. She needed medicine and he would get it for her while keeping her right be his side. Nothing would happen to her if they were all around her, protecting her almost like the Secret Service did for the president.

Riff seemed to turn his word's over in his head, watching the scenario play out before nodding reluctantly. A-rab was right. They would keep her safer in a group and it was only a short walk. The Sharks usually stayed on their part of town during the night anyways unless they'd planned a war council ahead of time, which they hadn't, so he figured they wouldn't run in to them.

He whistled to get the attention of the rest of the guys and informed them of their latest escapade. Everyone moved from their positions and headed to the door, Riff leading them. A-rab dug around under the mattress and pulled out his ratty old jacket and handed it to Angie. The temperature outside was dropping as the light decreased and he didn't need her to get sick on top of everyone else. He took her hand and pushed through the other guys until they were in the middle of the group.

He nodded to Riff and they left the safety of their hideout. He kept his hand on Angie's arm, ready to pull her away if anyone attacked them. He was vaguely aware of Anybodys trailing behind the group but he paid her no mind. Riff had appointed her to replace him and she'd taken that to mean that she could follow them wherever they went. He didn't particularly like it but he'd deal with her later. Right now he had one goal; to get Angie to Doc's safe and sound.

They walked in silence for fifteen minutes with no incident. They hadn't see so much as a stray cat the whole way there. They weren't even fifty feet from Doc's door when Riff caught sight of the head Shark himself leaning against the building.


	12. Chapter 12

Riff put out his hand to stop the other Jets from continuing on and stepped out protectively in front of them. Bernardo had been here just waiting for them to arrive. Riff couldn't see any other Sharks around but he was sure they were there somewhere. He clenched his jaw and had to refrain from lunging at the man in front of him. He wanted nothing more than to inflict the pain Angie had felt on him but he couldn't risk his family getting ambushed because of that. He stepped closer to Bernado and kept his gaze, waiting for him to speak.

Bernardo recognized the look in his eyes as determination. The Jet was preparing for a fight. "Stand down, Jet boy. I've come in peace," He held his hands out in front of him. "I only want to talk."

Riff narrowed his eyes. What the hell was there to talk about? Bernardo had waltzed into his place and hurt one of his people. What else was there?

"We'll talk inside and only when my people leave safely." Riff demanded. He wasn't going to be distracted by Bernardo and let the Sharks jump his boys. He'd be damned before he let anything happen to them.

Bernardo stared at the Jet for a good while, his eyes occasionally glancing at the others behind him, before shaking his head. "That won't be necessary." He said.

"And why not? It's either that or we don't talk at all!" Riff growled, growing more certain that this was about to turn very bad very quickly. Bernardo seemed to be wasting time, keeping him and his boys exposed longer than he would've liked. The Sharks would pop out at any second and-

"I only want to ask about the girl. Angie, wasn't it?" Bernardo asked softly, shocking everyone. None was more shocked than A-rab, who had been in the process of drawing the boys in closer to him and the girl in question.

The inquiry had served to not only confuse Riff, but also anger him further. "What do you care about her?" He spat. "You're the one who hurt her in the first place!" His face was growing red as his voice got louder. From behind him, he heard Angie whimper but paid her no mind, knowing A-rab would take care of her.

Bernardo narrowed his eyes. "She was only hurt during the fight I was having with /you/." He growled. "If /you/ hadn't attacked me then she wouldn't have gotten caught in the middle of it." He didn't raise his voice for he too, had heard the girl whimper in fear. Unlike Riff, he understood the source of her fear had been his yelling.

"You would've hurt her anyway! There was a knife to her throat when we came running in! You were going to kill her!" Riff shouted, lunging at Bernardo in his rage. This man had hurt Angie and he was going to pay for it.

The Jets tensed in the background, unsure of whether they should restrain their leader or join him. Angie grabbed A-Rab's hand and hid behind him. She didn't want to watch another fight break out or become the target herself.

"¡Ayuadame!" Bernardo shouted as he stepped backwards, trying to avoid Riff's grasp. The Jet was matching his every step, trying to catch him so he could pin him down. He had his knife in his pocket and he wasn't above driving it into the Spic's shoulder for first daring to hurt one of his own, and then having the audacity to ask about her.

Four Sharks came running from all sides of the street and tackled Riff, just before he could catch Bernardo in his grasp. He felt hands pull him to his feet and then his arms were behind his back, two iron-like grips keeping him in place. The two other Sharks were behind him, waiting to see if the other Jets were going to try anything. The boys never moved a muscle, though they would have usually sprung into action by now. Right now they had to protect Angie, which meant staying in the tight knit circle to hide her. Not only that, but they were shocked at Riff's actions. He'd been quicker to anger than they'd ever seen before. He usually thought about things before he did anything like that.

Bernardo nodded at Pepe and Indio in thanks for restraining Riff. The boy had a murderous rage in his eyes that he knew was directed towards him. He hadn't done anything this evening to wrong him, but he realized that the Jets had only seen the last of the incident yesterday. They had only seen Angie with a knife to her neck, they hadn't heard how he had yelled at his boys to be gentle with her and to not hurt her.

She was younger than his own sister was, he wasn't about to let her come to any harm. All he had intended to do was bring her back to where he lived and talk with the Jets when they came to her rescue. Chino had been the one to suggest her execution with a good reasoning. He had been against her slaughter but he wanted to keep his men safer than he did a total stranger so he had agreed. The Jets didn't know any of this, so he could understand Riff's anger. He needed to explain himself before the other got loose, Pepe and Indio could only hold him for so long.

"Listen to me," he started, waiting until everyone was paying attention to him. "I intended her no harm, none, and the only reason you came upon the scene you did was because one of my men had made a very good point. If we let her go like we had planned, she could either anger you or go to the cops. Both outcomes were undesirable and so he suggested we just kill her. I didn't want to watch it happen but I had to protect my people so I could only turn away from it."

" I am very glad you came in time to stop her execution but you did not have to attack us. I know what it looked like, but there was no need to start a knife fight. You could have just punched Chino in the face until he let her go but you didn't stop there, did you?" He asked. "No. You had to escalate it until everyone was fighting and you came at me, threatening my own life. I had to retaliate of course, but then Angie comes between us and now she's injured."

"I'm very sorry for it, but should you not be at fault for attacking us in the first place? You caused this to happen. I may have held the knife but you were really the one to hurt her." Bernardo watched as his words only seemed to increase Riff's anger but he also saw how the rest of them were looking shamefacedly at each other. He didn't miss how they all seemed to get closer together though.

They thought that if their circle of protection intensified, maybe their guilt would abate a little bit. It didn't work, but Angie felt better for them to try. Bernardo's words made sense to her, the Jets could've saved her without causing such a scene but they hadn't gone that route.

"You shouldn't have been there in the first fucking place!" Riff continued his shouting. "You had no business being in our territory!"

Bernardo arched an eyebrow. "Had it occurred to you that we may have been looking for you?" He asked. They had come asking about a war council, hoping one final rumble would settle their dues. But had they found the Jets when they arrived? No, they'd run into Angie instead. Now whose fault was that?

He watched as the Jets shook their heads. Riff gave no response other than to continue glaring at him.

"We wanted a final battle to hopefully end the fueding between our gangs but that's no longer an option," Bernardo's voice held sorrow and remorse in it. He had truly wanted to end their differences, last month's rumble still fresh in his mind, but it had only added fuel to the fire. His boys were angrier than ever at the other gang because not only had they almost killed him last month, but had tried again with no warning. The Jets were angry that the girl had been stabbed. This was not grounds for peace. "It seems that we'll continue as we have been. I apologize again for harming Angie." He sighed, regret shining in his eyes. He turned away from the group of boys and started walking. When he was a safe distance from Riff, he whistled and the Sharks followed after him.


	13. Chapter 13

Only when the Puerto Ricans were out of sight did the Jets relax. Riff went into Doc's without waiting for his boys to confront him, trusting that they were right behind him. They were, as always, and were thankful to be inside somewhere safe. The boys spread out around the store, finally giving Angie some room to breathe. A-Rab immediately started raiding the shelves for aspirin, like they had originally planned, not allowing the evening's events to affect his mission.

Riff was behind the counter, helping himself to a shot of liquor to calm himself down. His actions outside had even surprised himself, but he didn't regret them. His fierce protectiveness over his family in the face of a threat had decided to attack Bernardo. The man shouldn't have asked about Angie. He had no right, no fucking right, to even utter her name after what he had done to her. Instead of taking it like a man, Bernardo had called for his goons when Riff had went at him, and then he'd went on some tirade about how it was really their fault Angie had gotten hurt. Bullshit! It was those damn PRs fault for being there in the first goddamn place for Angie to get hurt! Riff took another shot of liquor and continued fuming.

Diesel and Mouthpiece stood by the door, keeping a watch out for trouble. Bernardo seemed to be done with the Jets for tonight, but they could never be too sure.

There were more Sharks than just Bernardo and they sure as hell didn't need his approval to come after them.

Snowboy and Gee-Tar were in the cellar, trying to find either Doc or Tony. After searching upstairs, they discovered the sign on the door they'd missed when they'd come in, which informed them Doc had gone to the bank. That explained why he hadn't come out when he heard Riff's yelling. They guessed Tony wasn't working today and if he wasn't with them, he was either ill or over in the PR neighborhood with Maria.

The Jets generally considered Tony a traitor nowadays. First he'd fallen in love with Bernardo's sister, then he'd gone and gotten Riff stabbed by intervening in the rumble, and to top it all off he'd gone and slept with her after Riff had been stabbed. He hadn't even stayed around to see if he was okay, he'd just left him for dead to go and get laid.

The only reason they didn't openly shun Tony was because he was Riff's best and oldest friend. They hadn't told Riff what Tony had been doing in the hours after the rumble and Tony hadn't told him either. There wasn't a reason to mess up Riff's friendship- and not to mention, living arrangement- if they could all regard Tony with silent distrust, right?

Baby John and Action were at a table with Angie. There'd been an unspoken agreement that two of them would be around her at all times and they'd been the closest when A-Rab had taken off across the store.

She felt better now that the yelling was over and the Puerto Ricans were gone but Riff's outburst had left her a little shaken up. He didn't strike her as the violent type and she wouldn't have guessed he was that hot-headed. She was glad he was so pissed over her getting hurt but he shouldn't have tried to attack Bernardo.

If she was being fair, she thought Riff should've acted more like Bernardo had. He'd been willing to speak calmly about what had happened and he even apologized and asked about her. How that had angered Riff, she would never know. She supposed she should be angry as well, since she'd been the one hurt in the first place, but she wasn't. She had been hurt because the Jets were quicker to fight than they were to ask for explanations.

That, and she'd just happened to be in the path of Bernardo's knife when he was aiming for Riff.

A-Rab's cry of triumph pulled Angie out of her thoughts. He came running over with a bottle of aspirin and gave her two of the pills. Someone gave her a bottle of water and she swallowed the pills gratefully. She'd been trying not to complain, but her shoulder hurt like a bitch and it wasn't letting up.

"Thanks James," She said with a smile. A-Rab shrugged like it was nothing and put the bottle of aspirin back on the shelf. Doc wouldn't miss two little pills.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Most of the boys had quiet conversations with each other but nothing really exciting happened. Nobody wanted to do anything that might set Riff off again.

It took about a third of vodka, but Riff calmed down. He convinced himself that Bernardo oughta take him in a fair fight the next time they met and he'd see to it too. He screwed the kid back on the bottle and put it under Doc's counter before hopping over it.

"Alright, boys!" He called, standing in the middle of the store. Everyone snapped to attention at the sound of his voice. They stopped the conversations and looked his way, waiting for him to continue. Angie looked around at the boys curiously, wondering why Riff was the leader and just how long they'd been together. Their actions were so natural that they had to have done this many times before. Maybe they'd been a gang for years. At least five, if this is where James had been since he left.

It turns out that all Riff wanted was to make sure they'd got the aspirin they'd come after and to announce that they were going back to the hideout. Angie didn't see the point in having to call everyone's attention just for that but to each their own. Really, Riff just asked one of the boys or even her if they'd gotten the aspirin and Angie hadn't been ere long, but she knew that all he would've had to have done was walk out and the gang would've taken that as their cue to leave.

They aren't as worried about protecting her on the way back since they've already encountered Bernardo it seems. A-Rab never lets her out of his grasping range but the others don't even acknowledge her. She doesn't have to be in the middle of them anymore so she stayed behind them, A-Rab right by her side. He kept watch on their surroundings as they walked, making sure there weren't any unwelcome threats hiding anywhere.

Riff strolled confidently in the front. It was probably the alcohol that made him forget about protecting their newest member, honestly. He didn't even notice that they'd broken up until they were back at the hideout and Angie walked in last.

"Who was keeping Angie safe?" He asked, looking around at his boys for an answer. A-Rab was the only one near Angie.

"Seriously boys? Why weren't any of you protecting her?"

"Because you didn't tell them to." Angie said quietly when no one else spoke up. The boys looked guiltily at her. Riff narrowed his eyes.

"I shouldn't have ta tell them nothin'! They're old enough to have common sense." He shouted, turning around to look at the boys in question. He missed the way Angie flinched at the raised voice. If he told them to protect her on the way there, they should honestly have figured out that that carried over into also protecting her on the way back. Was he right or was he wrong?

A-Rab took Angie by the hand and led her over to one of the couches, away from where Riff was reprimanding the others. It didn't do much to lower the volume of the shouting but it got her out of the line of fire if something went down.

Riff yelled at them for a good five minutes about responsibilities and being old enough to know when something is important before his voice lowered. He could see that his boys were sorry and at least they had protected her at Doc's without being told. From Angie and A-Rab's position, they couldn't hear when the boys started asking questions.

"Riff, there's something a little...off about Angie, right?" Diesel started, glancing over at the siblings. Riff followed his gaze and shook his head.

"She's nice enough. What do you mean?" He asked, knowing exactly what he meant.

"Her and A-Rab are supposed to be related, right?" Action asked. Riff nodded. "Then why's she look more like a PR and he's got blond hair and light skin?"

There were murmurs of affirmation as the boys were grateful someone asked what they'd all been thinking about since they met her. Nobody had wanted to say anything in front of A-Rab as to not upset him, but this honestly just wasn't adding up. Where A-Rab was light with blond hair and green eyes, Angie was dark skinned with black hair and brown eyes. If Riff hadn't of brought her around, they would've probably jumped her if they'd found her first. She looked more like Bernardo than she did A-Rab.

"Listen boys," Riff sighed, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "It's none of our business. A-Rab says she's his sister, who are we to question? And it's not like she's a Shark, so what do we have to worry about?"

Nobody had an answer that wouldn't sound ridiculous or offensive. Diesel personally thought that she could've been working for the Sharks, but then he remembered how Bernardo had stabbed her and he decided that wouldn't have occurred if she'd been one of them. Hell, they didn't even know if she was really Puerto Rican anyway.

When nothing else was said, Riff nodded to them and took his seat. The boys scattered as they had before, but Baby John had to sit on the floor at A-Rab's feet. Angie was in his spot. He made a mental note to go out looking for another chair tomorrow.

Things continued on in much the same manner as they had the day before. Everyone was in their own little conversations, boasting and laughing with each other. Angie was curled up on her side of the couch, her head on A-Rab's lap, sleepily watching the others and listening to her brother ramble on about something or another with Baby John. She was tired and the hand carding through her hair wasn't doing anything to help matters. It didn't take twenty minutes until she was out like a light.

Some hours later, Baby John was the first to notice that she'd fallen asleep and tapped A-Rab on the knee to get his attention. A-Rab glanced down at his sister and smiled before looking around. Most of the guys had left already and only Action, Ice, and Riff remained. Riff was planning new patrol routes and the other two were listening intently, trying to commit it to memory for the next day. He gently pushed Angie up and got up off the couch before picking her up bridal style, resting her head on his shoulder.

Baby John stood up and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Can we stay at yours tonight?" A-Rab asked quietly, hoping not to disturb Angie. Baby John shook his head. "Why not? Your folks always let me stay over."

"Angie's a girl," Baby John said apologetically. "They don't let girls stay over cause they're afraid we'll do somethin'."

A-Rab rolled his eyes. Baby John's folks were weird like that. He was seventeen and they still treated him like he was a kid. Angie was his sister and he wouldn't let anything happen between her and Baby John even if he did know the other boy wouldn't do anything. All they needed was a place to sleep for the night but he knew he couldn't argue with Baby John's folks. He shrugged before walking to where the other three were. They looked to be finished talking.

"Ice?" He asked, getting the other boy's gaze to land on him. Ice looked at Angie before his eyes landed on A-Rab's face. "Can we stay with you tonight?"

"Of course, buddy boy. You sleeping the same place you always do?" Ice asked in return. Action watched their interaction with furrowed eyebrows, silently fuming about how Ice would let Angie into his home. She wasn't a Shark but he still didn't trust anyone who looked like one.

"I'll give Angie the couch and sleep on the floor beside her, if its all the same to you." A-Rab said and Ice nodded. They said their goodbyes and went out the door, leaving the other three Jets behind.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	15. Chapter 15

"I just don't understand it!" Bernardo threw his hands up in defeat. "I can't figure it out!"

"About that broad the Jets had?" Chino asked, watching his leader pace back and forth across the cement. Ever since he'd returned from Doc's, Bernardo hadn't stood still. It was nearing two in the morning and both Anita and Maria had been up to try to convince him to go to bed, but he was still pacing the floor. He hadn't said much in the last five or six hours. Chino couldn't fathom how he could think about that girl for all that time.

"Yes, her. Who else?" Bernardo sighed. He hadn't stopped thinking about her since he'd set eyes on her, much less since he stabbed her. He couldn't work out why she was with a group of Americans, much less why she was with the Jets of all people. He knew very well how they acted towards people like him, so what made Angie any different? She and him shared the same skin. Why should he be harassed and called a Spic while she wasn't?

"Where is the difference, Chino? How am I any different than she is? Why do the Jets treat her like someone to be kept safe, but treat us like animals to be slaughtered?" He sounded lost.

"I can't tell you that. Who knows? Maybe they've got a connection to her." Chino suggested, shrugging. He'd seen how they'd defended her as soon as they had seen that she was in trouble. They wouldn't have done that to a complete stranger and they certainly wouldn't have to a Hispanic stranger. They had to be connected to her someway. The Jets didn't exactly strike him as people apt to change overnight.

"What kind of connection? They treat her like I treat Maria, but they are clearly not related to her. They can't be family to her, Chino."

"They could be though." Chino pointed out. They had treated Angie like she was everyone's kid sister, much like the Sharks treated Maria, so who's to say she wasn't?

"They're white Americans and she isn't. That's just impossible!"

"In America, nothing is impossible." Chino smirked. "Remember?"

Bernardo shot a glare at him, but he only continued with that smug look on his face.

"Here, there are all sorts of families. Why is it so hard to believe that maybe one of them grew up with half a Hispanic household?" He asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Because if they had, they would have more kindness to show towards us. They wouldn't have jumped me when we came here and they wouldn't have such a hatred for us." Bernardo explained, frustration clear in his tone. That's exactly what he'd been trying to piece together.

"How do you know? How do you know that not one of them grew up with this girl?" Chino challenged. He wouldn't have argued a few months ago, but he wasn't afraid now. He'd almost killed a man a month ago, he wasn't going to be afraid to argue with Bernardo. He didn't know why he cared so much about defending the Jets, but he was fired up.

"The one that did, would be the one that told the others to maybe, I don't know, stop trying to ruin our lives!" Bernardo snapped, stopping in front of his lieutenant. Nobody that grew up in a Puerto Rican household would have as much hostility towards

Puerto Ricans as the Jets had. Maybe if they hadn't protected Angie, he would've believed that, but they had protected her. They had cared. That counted for something.

"Why don't you go ask them then?" Chino could raise his voice too. "Why don't you just march right up to one of them and ask where she came from and why they care so much!"

"Riff has a hard head. I can't even say her name in his presence without igniting his anger." Bernardo sighed wearily, backing down. He didn't feel like fighting with Chino, standing here and matching the venom in his words to his. He knew the boy had fight in him, honestly he did, but Chino was always looking to gain approval on some level. He was always doing something to prove he was just as good as the rest of them and Bernardo didn't want to deal with that tonight. All he wanted was information and he couldn't get that easily.

"Ask someone who isn't Riff. There's plenty of them." Chino said, watching as the fire left Bernardo's eyes and was replaced by tiredness.

"It's difficult to find any of them alone lately. You can bet your ass that they'll all be focused on protecting her as a group now. How can I ask one of them without it being a suicide mission?"

Chino had no answer and after a few minutes of silence, Bernardo just shook his head in defeat and went downstairs. He wasn't going to fix this problem tonight so he might as well try to sleep.


End file.
